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Vol.4 (2), pp. 35-38, February 2016
ISSN 2354-4147
Article Number: DRJA12887038
Copyright © 2016
Author(s) retain the copyright of this article
Direct Research Journal of Agriculture and Food Science
http://directresearchpublisher.org/journal/drjafs
Research Paper
Effects of inclusion of local pepper powder or salt to cowpea
seeds during storage
*OGORI, A. F. OMONIYI, S. A. AND SAMUEL .E
Department of Home Science and Management, Faculty of Agriculture,Federal University, Gashua,
P. M. B. 1005 Gashua, Yobe state, Nigeria.
*Corresponding Author E-mail: ogoriakamafriday@gmail.com
Received 2 December 2015; Accepted 4 January, 2016
The study investigated the effect of inclusion of local
pepper powder and salt admixture on cowpea seeds during
storage. One gram of pepper powder was added to two
kilograms (kg) of cowpea seeds and packaged inside
bagco® bag, also one gram of pepper powder with one gram
of salt were added to two kilogram of cowpea seeds and
packaged inside bagco® bag while two kilograms of cowpea
seeds only was packaged inside bagco® bag and serves as a
control for aforementioned two samples. The three samples
were stored at ambient condition for five weeks and the
number of weevil and the weight of each sample were
recorded every week.The results showed that the number
of weevil in control sample during storage ranging from 18
to 20 while other two samples ranging from 3 to 5 weevils.
Also, during the storage period, the weight of control
sample decreased from (2.00 to 1.73) kg , but the weight of
sample with pepper powder increased from (2.00 to 2.04)
kg while the sample with pepper powder and salt increased
from (2.00 to 2.08) kg. The results showed that the
reduction of the weight of control sample may be attributed
to weevils’ infestation of the cowpea seeds during storage.
The increase in the weight of other two samples may be
attributed to preservation (pepper powder and salt) added
to the sample during storage. The study showed that the
preservatives used for cowpea seeds retard the growth of
adult and larva weevils during storage period. Therefore,
usage of pepper powder and salt could be useful for the
preservation of cowpea seeds during storage without any
adverse effect.
Key words: cowpea seeds, local pepper powder, salt,
preservatives, storage, weevil infestation.
INTRODUCTION
Cowpea legume is a plant in the family Fabaceac (or
Leguminosae). These, are grown agriculturally, primarily
for their food grain seed pulse for livestock forage and
silage, and as soil – enhancing green manure
Anonymous, (2004). Legumes are notable for symbiotic
nitrogen- fixing bacteria in structures called nodules well;
known legumes include alfalfa, (lover, peas, beans,
lentils, lupines, carob, soybeans, peanuts, tamarind, and
the woody climbing vine wisteria, legume trees like the
locust trees or the Kentucky coffee tree Gymnocladus
dioicus can be used in perma culture food forests
Anonymous, (2004).
Legumes are low in fat, free of cholesterol and rich in
fiber; their high protein content makes them suitable
substitutions as meat analogue, like soybeans. Cowpea
(Vigna vnguiculata) is one of several species of the
widely cultivated genus of vigna, four subspecies are
recognized, cowpea is one of the most important food
legume crops in the semi-arid tropics. A drought tolerant
and warm weather crop, are well adapted to the drier
regions of the tropics, where other food legumes do not
perform well. It also has the useful ability to fix
atmospheric nitrogen through its root nodules .Cowpea is
a plant of the pea family native to the old world tropics. It
Ogori et al. 36
is an important pulse for animal feed and human
consumption.
Cowpea’s adaptability to different types of soil and
intercropping systems its resistance to drought, and its
ability to improve soil fertility and prevent erosion makes
it an important economics crop in many developing
regions the sale of the stems and leaves as animal feed
during the dry season also provides a vital income for
farmers (Oyewole and Oloko,2000).But synthetic
chemicals as preservatives are most effective, giving
several fold increase in grain yield (Aliyu and Ahmed,
2006). However the danger of the use of synthetic
chemicals which could accelerate environmental
pollution, toxicity to mammals, hazards to users and
consumers (Olorifa and Erhun,1988), have given it a
restrains. Alternative control measures are being sought.
Total abandonment of chemicals could however, spell
doom to man as this will worsen the present food
situation (Periera, 1983).
Beans and cowpea seeds are often rendered worthless
by weevils (Oyewole and Oloko, 2000) . The most
commonly reported insect pests of beans are weevil
(callosobruchus naculatus) and the bean weevil
acanthoseelides abtectus are the insect usually blamable
for this damage (Oyewole and Oloko, 2000).The
infestations usually originate in the field but reproduction
of the weevil continues in stored seed as long as
temperature is sufficiently high until the entire lot of seed
is completely without value (Ashaye et al., 2006 ).
Herbs and Spices have been used for thousands of
years to enhance the flavor, color and aroma of food;
additionally, they are known for their preservative and
medicinal value (Arowona, 1999). Black pepper (Piper
nigrum L., Piperaceae) is used to treat asthma, chronic
indigestion, colon toxins, obesity, sinus, congestion and
fever (Rosa, 1974; Okafor,2012).Black pepper and a
white pepper are made from the Pipers nigrum plant. The
black pepper and white pepper powder are used to make
medicine, people take black pepper for stomach upset,
bronchitis, and career, they take white pepper for
stomach upset malaria, cholera, and cancer, black
pepper is sometimes, applied directly on the skin for
treating nerve pain (neuralgia) and a skin disease called
cabbies black pepper and white pepper are also used
topically as a counter-irritant for pain (Adegoke et al.,
2000 ).
It has been shown that pepper has antimicrobial
activity (Bawa and Webster, 1992) and some have
already produced compounds, effective against antibiotic
resistant strains of bacteria (Bawa and Webster, 1992).
They have a pungent taste and cause salivation and
numbness of the mouth (Ndukwu and Ben-nwdibia,
2005).
It has been reported that the fruits extract of the plant
had anti-depressant, anti-conceptive, anti- inflammatory,
antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, antibacterial, anti-
fungal, anti-tumor, anti-allergic, anti-asthmatic, anti-
fertility, antiulcer, antihypertensive, anti-platelet, anti-
thyroid, immune-modulatory, anti-amoebic, hepato
protective, vasodilating, insecticidal and mosquito
larvicidal activities (Zaveri et al., 2010; Manoj et al., 2004)
Antioxidant properties of spices have been recognized
about six decades ago when it was demonstrated that
spices effectively increased the antioxidant capacity of
foods and that their effects depend on food matrices. The
use of local spices to control the activities of micro-
organisms in food has been reported by (Akpomedaye
and Ejechi,1988).Apart from antimicrobial activities,
spices are believed to have medical value. Black and
white pepper might help fight germs (microbes and cause
the stomach to increase the flow of digestive juices
(Cunningham et al.,2009). There is conflicting evidence
about their role in cancer some evidence suggests
pepper might protect against color cancer, but other
evidence suggests it might promote liver cancer
(Cunningham et al., 2009)
Preservation usually involves preventing the growth of
bacteria, Fungi (such as yeasts), and other
microorganisms as well as retarding the oxidation of fats
which cause rancidity (Oluwaniyi et al., 2009). Food
preservation is the process of treating and handling food
to stop or slow down food spoilage, loss of quality,
edibility, or nutritional value and thus allow for longer food
storage (Reddy and Biradarpatil, 2012).A number of
methods of prevention can be used that can either totally
prevent delay or otherwise reduce food spoilage,
preservatives can expand the shelf life of food and
lengthen the time long enough for it to be preserve,
processed, sold and kept in the consumers home for a
reasonable length of time (Oluwaniyi et al.,2009).
Aframocuum danielli (alligator pepper) is a parental crop
with erect stems with about 50 species over West and
some East African countries Anonymous, (2004. The
antimicrobial activities of its crude extract against a
number of micro-organisms have been established
Fasoyiro et al., (2001). A host of bacteria including
Salmonella enteritis, Pseudomonas fragi, Pseudomonas
fluorescens, Proteus vulgaris, Streptococcus pyogenes,
Straphylococcus aureus and molds Aspergillus flavus
and Aspergillus higher has been reported inhibited by the
same extract. Also, the nutritive status of Aframonum
danielli has been reported by Fasoyiro et al., (2001), that
it can cause the inhibition of some food spoilage yeasts
(Candida torulopsis) at concentration of 100 to 200 ppm,
the anti-oxidative activities of alligator pepper and the
evaluation of its preservative action as a substitute for
sorbic acid in treated bread has been discovered.
Aframonum danielli was used to control ochratoxin A in
kunun-zaki. Adegoke et al. (2007) reported that
Aframonum danealli can be used in food processing and
preservation.
This approach shall help the farmers preserve their
cowpea all year round and help against food poisoning
and toxicity that may possibly come from chemical
preservatives. It has become necessary to search for an
option that can produce satisfactory result in a way that
such option is not only acceptable to the farmers, but
must also be feasible from a socio-economic stand point.
In the present circumstance, an approach that would rely
on the use of plant products (without involving synthetic
pesticides) appears to hold the greater hope for cropping
system throughout the tropics and sub-tropics, including
Nigeria. The non-availability and high cost of synthetic
pesticides to the environment, human and grain import to
livestock have necessitated the search for a more
acceptable method of controlling insect pests to be able
to meet up with the food demand of its cowpea in
storage. This study was therefore carried out to proffer an
alternative cowpea preservative method that is cheap,
available, and affordable and has Preservative effect and
which is indigenous to farmers, marketers and
consumers of cowpea.
MATERIALS AND METHOD
Local variety of cowpea seeds and bagco® bag
purchased from open market, kontagora, Niger state,
Nigeria were used for the study. Bagco® bag was used as
a packaging material for the storage study. The bag had
a suitable air pore that afforded an efficient air tight
circulatory condition. Two storage local material spices,
namely pepper and salt were used as preservatives.
Sewing machine was used to resize the bags and help
sew the pepper and salt preservative impregnated bags
on the bagco® bag at equidistance of the length.
Methods
Two grams of pepper powder was added to 2 kg of
cowpea seeds and packaged in bagco® bag. For second
sample, 2 g of pepper powder and 2 g of salt were added
to 2 kg of cowpea seeds and also packaged in Bagco®
bag. However, 2 kg of cowpea seeds was packaged in
bagco® bag without any preservative and this served as a
control. The three samples were stored for five weeks
and number of weevil and weight of cowpea seeds were
determined on each sample every week. The weight of
each sample was determined using weighing balance
while number of weevil was determined by counting of
the weevil in each sample.
Statistical analysis.
Simple average mean summation was done to ascertain
values. The experimental counting was done three times
on weevil and weight weighting.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 shows the effect of grounded local pepper and
Direct Res. J. Agric. Food. Sci. 37
salt on cowpea seeds storage for five weeks. At first
week, the sample with pepper and sample with pepper
and salt recorded similar results with the seeds having no
weevils while control sample recorded a high number
(18) of weevil’s infestations on seeds. Two samples
showed similar results while the control recorded the
highest number (18) of weevil infestation and lowest
weight of the seeds (1.90 kg) from second week. At third
week, the two samples showed similar results while the
control recorded the highest number (18) of weevil
infestation and lowest weight of the seeds (1.78 kg). At
fourth week, the two samples showed similar result while
the control recorded the highest number (18) of weevil
infestation and lowest weight of the seeds (1.75 kg) This
agrees with result on using Moringa oil seed for a week
storage of cowpea seed (Ilesanmi and Gungula, 2013).At
fifth week, the two samples showed similar result while
the control recorded the highest number (20) of weevil
infestation and lowest weight of the seeds (1.73 kg).
The weevil number was affected by the interaction of
pepper spices and longevity of period of airtight storage ,
this agreed with the report of Aguoru et al. (2015 ) who
assert that seed longevity and viability vary from species
to species even when given identical treatments and
storage conditions. The highest numbers of weevil were
not attached to the cowpea seeds at one week when
pepper and salt were used to preserve the cowpea
seeds. The result of second week showed that salt and
pepper may not have caused weight loss in stored
cowpea seeds with the control sample having similar
weight loose. There was increase in numbers of weevil
number from zero to four, respectively with a positive
difference in pepper and salt admixture effects. The slight
increase however not incremental could be due to
chemical or radical scavenging ability of the spice used
(Zaveri et al., 2010). The result of third week showed that
the various number of weevil mortality in stored cowpea
seeds reduced with pepper and salt compared with the
control sample which may be due to capsaicin content
of the pepper probably been active (Taylor et al., 2007).
The result obtained for the fourth week is in line with the
study reported by Taiwo, (1998). The airtight storage and
local preservatives are very good condition for storage
cowpea seeds without pesticide, and this will effectively
control cowpea weevil infestation .The effect of these
preservative (salt/ pepper and pepper) longevity of period
of storage did not significantly affect weight loss in
cowpea. The result of fifth week showed that there were
decreases in numbers of weevil number from five to four
in the two samples while there was increase in the control
sample (20). The application of salt and pepper affected
weevils while a higher number was recorded in control
sample (week 5) ,while least was recorded from other two
samples,the result affirmed the study report by Nasiru,
(2010) who investigative the profiles on seed viability
using pepper. The weights of cowpea seeds with
preservative were above initial 20 kg and this may be due
Ogori et al. 38
Table 1. Effect of grounded local pepper and salt on cowpea seeds storage for five weeks.
Week1 Weeek2 Week3 Week4 Week5
Sample Number of weevil Wt (kg) Number of
weevil Wt(kg) Number of weevil Wt (kg) Number weevil
Wt (kg) Number weevil
Wt (kg)
control 18 1.93 18 1.90 18 1.78 18 1.73 20 1.73
CPO 0 2.05 4 2.06 3 2.05 5 2.05 4 2.04
CPS 0 2.05 4 2.07 3 2.07 5 2.07 4 2.08
Values are means from three averages readings of the experimental counts and weight
Control – cowpea seeds only
CPO – cowpea seeds with pepper
CPS – cowpea seeds with pepper and salt
wt =weigt of sample in kg.
to hygroscopic nature of the salt and pepper. The
attached action of salt / pepper admixture could have
affected parent larva weevil (that laid the eggs) thus a
reduction in egg and even the ones that succeeded in
hatching to larva and adults were also furthers reduced.
CONCLUSION
The study showed that the preservation used retard the
growth of both adult and larva weevils during storage
period. Thus, usage of pepper powder and salt could be
use for the preservation of cowpea seeds during storage
without any adverse effect. The use of pepper and salt as
a natural biocide may open a new window in the scientific
method of handling cowpea seed which may be extended
to other known seeds. It is therefore suggested that more
intensive research is required in this area to further
elucidate the biocidal effect of of pepper on different
biotic agents of cowpea seeds such as spoilage bacteria,
especially during fermentation or cook stay of cowpea.
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